The question of whether knowledge is property isn't a simple one. Practically, knowledge belongs to anyone who has it. There may be benefits to setting up coo

The question of whether knowledge is property isn't a simple one. Practically, knowledge belongs to anyone who has it. There may be benefits to setting up cooperative rules about how people can use it. But even in societies with capitalism-friendly approaches, there are cases where knowledge is recognized as a kind of temporary property (say, patents) and yet everyone may have access. There are reasons for that. Secrets are a different kind of protection. You can try to keep them, and perhaps you even have incentives to do so. This creates an interesting set of incentives for others trying to find out, as well as for those who know to defect (depending on the legal framework and reach).